Behind Castle Walls
by Star Rhapsody
Summary: The world of royalty isn't exactly perfect. If anything, it's the farthest thing from it. Jealous wives, not too sharp swords for husbands, and some servants who have the misfortune of being caught in the middle.
1. Royalty Doesn't Necessarily Mean Classy

**AN: **By now someone must be thinking I bite off more than I can chew, which would be absolutely true. I can't help it! It's like a disease. Creating stories and then not finishing them…Sigh. This was something I tried way back when, but it got deleted during my computer's monthly cycles of combusting. So I decided during my fanfic frenzy, I'd rewrite it. It's my very lame shot at humor. Don't kill me if you die from it. Sorry for any errors, as always.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha. (And some would say a sense of humor.)

**Behind Castle Walls**

**Chapter One: Royalty Doesn't Necessarily Mean Classy**

"Wake up! Wake up! Are you _deaf_?! Wake up!"

The girl on the bed groaned and turned on her side, facing the wall, her back towards the now annoyed woman.

Sango putting her hands on her hips, narrowed her eyes at the scene. A typical morning was all she could think of. Their orders every day were to get up at five in the morning, sharp. No excuses either. It was a part of their job and they had to abide by the rules! But Kagome obviously didn't function that well in the morning, so it was up to her to make sure the girl got up and time.

"Lady Kaede will be upset if you don't get up! Remember the last time you slept in?"

Kagome quickly jolted out of bed and ran to her shabby armoire that held her maid's kimono outfit and a few other garments. While she was hurrying she looked over at Sango, a grateful look on her face. "What would I do without you, Sango?"

"You wouldn't work here, that's what." Sango responded, though she smiled a little too. "And personally, I don't see how you can sleep on those beds! They're hard as a rock. And it's always cold here too." She rubbed her arms a little at the mentioning of the cold atmosphere.

"I'm a heavy sleeper, what can I say?"

Sango rolled her eyes and headed for the doorway. "Make sure you get ready quickly. Lady Kaede hates it when you're late. You're just lucky she likes you enough," Sango teased before walking down the hallway.

Kagome sighed but finished tying the ribbon around her waist that kept the kimono together. After looking in her slightly cracked mirror, she ran out the doorway and literally sprinted all the way downstairs to the kitchens. Hopefully no one would rat her out for being the late one.

When she arrived at the kitchens, she saw Kaede waiting near the entrance, a grim look on her face with her arms crossed. "Late again, Kagome?"

Kagome quickly bowed before looking back up into the one visible eye of the woman who was the head maid. Though the amount of work she did was…questionable. But she was also a miko, and therefore she was needed. In fact, Kagome was undergoing training from Kaede. The castle called for many as useful people it could contain. People never knew when attacks could take place when holding a domain such as this one.

"Ye do remember that today is the day the Taishou clan is coming to stay?" Kaede questioned, already knowing the answer.

_Shit. _"Yes, Lady Kaede. And I'm supposed to be preparing foods for the feast, correct?" It was a pure guess.

"Yes ye are. Glad to know ye remembered _something _today. Although it was by pure chance." The woman cackled to herself before wheezing and choking on her own spit. Grumbling curses to herself, she walked out of the kitchens, hobbling on her nearly broken legs.

Realizing that she didn't have much time to spare, Kagome ran over to a huge counter and began chopping some vegetables that had been set aside. As she was chopping with practiced precision, she swore at herself for forgetting the fact that the Taishou clan was arriving today for their yearly visit. A time when both lords along with the other "important figures" discussed whatever it was that they discussed. Kagome didn't really bother to indulge with the other servants' gossiping.

After dumping the vegetables in a pot and stirring them over the hot flames, she walked to another area of the spacious kitchens and began to mix some sort of stew together. Knowing that this was the only chance she'd get to taste some of this delicious food, she quickly took a sip of the broth and looked around quickly to see if anyone had witnessed the act. She locked eyes with another man who glared at her as if to say '_I damn well saw you!_'

She merely shrugged her shoulders before cleaning up the mess around her and stuffing things back in the cabinets.

One had to wonder how she hadn't been kicked out of this place.

--

"I don't _care _if they don't allow more than two weapons per person! I have _three _and that's that!" Sesshoumaru glared at the officer before him, daring him to retaliate. He cracked his claws for good measure before being allowed passage through the gates. This place killed him. Every time they made some sort of fuss about him carrying "too many weapons". By now they should've known that nobody questioned him! And of course, Tenseiga couldn't really be considered a _weapon_. Though of course, the topic of him abusing its healing abilities had been brought up…It was only once! Only _once _did he bring back someone from the dead to slaughter them again! Only _once_!

"Sesshoumaru," the bane of his existence called. "Sesshoumaru! I know you can hear me. I didn't marry a dog demon for nothing!" Izayoi hollered at him, a placid look painted on her face. "I know all the characteristics of one, and one thing that I know for sure is that they have good hearing, so listen to me good! You will be respectful of the others that have so kindly invited us to stay." _By force_, Sesshoumaru thought, though he kept it to himself. Nobody ever told him how powerful human women could be.

Sesshoumaru glanced at his father, who was smiling in a rather dense way and nodding his head in agreement with Izayoi who gave him a pat on the chest for being such a good dog. Sesshoumaru being disgusted was an understatement.

"So!" Inuyasha hollered, propping an elbow on Sesshoumaru's shoulder. "Excited 'ta see that girl you always slobber all over? What's her name? Rin?" He grinned as his older brother pinched the bridge of his nose and 'accidentally' elbowed him in the stomach.

"And how many times have you drowned that human girl in your drool?" He inquired, inwardly smirking. Try getting out of this one!

"Girl?" A female voice questioned with an air of annoyance. "Please, Inuyasha. Tell me about this _girl_."

"Kikyou!" Inuyasha yelped while Kikyou sent him a look that could kill. Once they were in, he was a goner. Sesshoumaru let a tiny, sadistic smile erupt on his features when he heard Kikyou and Inuyasha quietly quarreling with one another. Ah, a marriage soon to be in ruins…How pleasant.

As they neared the entrance of the castle, a small man, no taller than three feet greeted them, before signaling for the doors to be opened. As the two huge, double doors opened, the Taishou clan was greeted with all the servants, females on one side, males on the other, bowing. Except for one of course who accidentally bowed a bit too far and fell on her face.

_Oh Kagome…_

Sesshoumaru studied the scene with little interest. This part was always dull. He just wanted to get his room and lock the door up. The stench of humans was going to give him a fatal sinus infection.

"Welcome!" A loud voice bellowed, in an almost…sinister sort of way. "I am so _glad _that you could all join us again this year." Of course everybody knew he secretly meant _'I can't wait until you annoyances leave.'_

"Lord Naraku, my man!" Taishou greeted in a way that would suggest they were the best of friends. Well, maybe to him. Let's just say, the feeling wasn't mutual. "It's great to see you again! Any big parties planned, eh? Eh?!" He laughed heartily before being nudged by Izayoi.

"Of course, of course." Naraku replied. "Well now. My servants here will show you your rooms for your stay! Dinner will be served at seven!" With the clap of his hands, the servants immediately took their previously assigned people to their rooms.

Kagome walked over to Inuyasha and Kikyou and gave them a quick smile.

A barely visible tint of red appeared on Inuyasha's face as he returned the smile. Kikyou was less than pleased. It was obvious now as to whom the 'girl' was. Luckily she was only a servant and not of royal status. Otherwise she'd actually have competition. She smirked at the fact that Kagome was out of luck when it came to Inuyasha. She had dibs on him first anyways!

After walking up several flights of stairs, Kagome pushed open a big wooden door and moved to the side, gesturing for them to walk in. "The room is all prepared for you two. Dinner will be served at seven. If you need anything, just call for me." With that, she gave a polite smile and briskly walked away.

"Nice girl," Kikyou quipped.

Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru was already situated in his room, the door bolted shut. He let out a deep breath, relieved to not have to breathe the same air as those humans did. Unfortunately though, his room happened to be right next door to Inuyasha's and that lovable wife of his. He actually enjoyed her company. She was quiet, calculating, and cold. Not to mention she was a highly regarded miko. But she could really bitch if she wanted and that was annoying enough.

As he stared out the small window of his quarters, he was dreading the fact of having to step outside this small sanctuary. The maids that passed by in the hallways always giggled and whispered to one another, commenting on how gorgeous he looked. Although he would've preferred 'handsome' or 'dashing'.

But either way, their endless prattle annoyed him to no end, and to have to deal with this for six months was not something he was pleased with. At his own domain, the maids there were already immune to his good looks.

Go figure.

--

The feast had just started and already Kagome was wishing she could leave. Not only was the idea of watching other people stuff themselves boring, but the suggestive looks that Myouga was sending Kaede was enough to make anyone want to die. She sent Sango the universal 'gag me' look which was intercepted by Naraku who sat at the very end of the table on the far right of Kagome.

The extremely long table that must've seated two hundred people was filled from one end of the table clear across to the other end. There were three chairs seated at each end of the table, the biggest one in the middle and two medium sized ones to the right and left of it. At the left end of the table, Taisho set in the middle, with Izayoi to his right and Sesshoumaru to his left, the latter one averting his attention to anywhere that _didn't _have a human in his line of vision (which was quite powerful), which inadvertently led him to staring at his food.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was sitting beside Sesshoumaru, with Kikyou right next to him who was glaring daggers at any of the women a part of the Onigumo clan who dared to stare and admire Inuyasha. As Inutaishou had once said, she was acting like a true "Territorial Inu Youkai Bitch" would. He still didn't understand why she got so _upset _over it. He was merely speaking the truth.

"Um, excuse me? Could I get some more wine?" Inuyasha called out. Just as one of the maids began to walk over to him, Kikyou quickly looked over at Inuyasha, the closest thing to a 'sweet' smile on her face.

"You can have some of _my _wine, _dear_."

He gulped and slowly took her glass of wine that seemed like it was going to crack from the pressure of her fist that was grasping it. "Thank you…" She beamed at him, as if nothing had even happened, while the maid slowly took a step back.

And people had said the Onigumo clan was weird…They obviously hadn't met the Taishou clan.

While a lengthy battle of wits (or not, considering Inuyasha wasn't fighting back at all) ensued between the miko and the hanyou, another battle was taking place: Izayoi and Abi, Naraku's wife. And even though the table was so long and they were so far apart, flames were skyrocketing from their eyes and clashing halfway. "Something wrong, dear?" Inutaishou asked Izayoi, seeing the deadly look on her face. (He was actually more afraid for his own wellbeing, seeing as she usually did that when she was pissed at him.)

"Not a thing." She replied pleasantly. _That bitch is going to pay._

Down at the other end of the table, Abi was smirking, knowing their fight would take place elsewhere, though she didn't expect much from a human.

There was so much love going on through this feast, you could just _see_ it.

Rin, who was sitting on the other side of Naraku, was moving around the food on her plate, rearranging them into random patterns. Naraku looked at her, eyebrow raised. In a falsely sweet voice he began, "Rin dear! Why don't you **eat **your food, hm?" He smiled and tapped her hand with his fork which was meant to be a slap, though it looked like a friendly little pat to everyone else. If one listened closely enough to Rin, they'd hear her chanting the mantra "Remember Rin, you are _adopted_, you are _adopted_. You have no connection to this family. No connection."

Kagura, her older sister who sat beside Rin, was stealing glances at her, almost as if she were trying to burn her with her ruby eyes. _Damn her! The only reason she's sitting there is because she's not married! Thanks to the fat lot of help this 'family' provided, I'm married to this stupid Kouga freak. He's a barbarian! _ Now she decided to send her glare in waves towards Kouga who sat beside her, unaware of her anger.

"Thanks to you, I'm not the one who gets to sit across from Lord Sesshoumaru!" She hissed.

Kouga merely grunted and replied with something that sounded like a "You can barely see him from this distance!"

Kagura huffed and returned to her dinner. Rin smiled smugly to herself. At least one good thing came out of this night.

--

It was about two in the morning when Kagome collapsed on her bed. The cleanup had taken longer than she expected, so it was a relief to be back in her room. Not even the abnormally cold atmosphere that seemed to settle in only her room and the fact that the bed was hard as rock didn't deter her from the task at hand: Sleeping.

Just as she was about to let her eyes drift into slumber, she heard door slam so loudly that it seemed to vibrate all over the castle. Curiosity took over her mind, so she pushed back the covers and crept down the stairs, a candle in her hand. If she wasn't mistaken, it was coming around the area of Inuyasha, Kikyou, and Sesshoumaru's rooms.

Knowing she could get in trouble for meddling in their business, she hung back by the stairs, trying her hardest not to be noticed. Even though she had a candle and they were inu youkais…Good with scent and hearing and all. It was worth a shot anyway.

Straining to make out words, she leaned closer, towards the hallway where their rooms were.

"Can you not control her?" Sesshoumaru hissed. "Every time she talks, she has to complain about something!"

Inuyasha sagged his shoulders, not really knowing what to do. She did have a right to be mad…But he couldn't help the fact that he looked so damn good!

"And what does it concern you?" Kikyou asked sharply in the direction of Sesshoumaru. "What I say to Inuyasha should be none of your business."

"Well when you gripe so loudly, the whole domain could hear you!"

Just then, from somewhere far, far away, Inutaishou put an end to the matter with a "Will you SHUT UP?!"

Taking it as her cue to leave, Kagome stealthily ran up the stairs with the candle (God only knows why she couldn't bow that perfectly earlier), hoping she wouldn't get caught. Finally, she reached her room, and shut the door tight. A few moments later, she extinguished the candle and curled herself under her thin covers, knowing it would be a rather interesting six months.


	2. A Woman's Wrath

**AN: **Erm, another update with this fic. This is sort of like my way to relieve stress. So as a warning, don't expect some sort of masterpiece/something intelligible. Thank you.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Behind Castle Walls**

**Chapter Two: A Woman's Wrath**

Inuyasha didn't know what it was with the women of not only this castle, but rather, the women of all over the world. It was as if they were constantly stuck in this haze of anger and morbid thoughts. A lot of those morbid thoughts seemed to be directed at him as well by his loving wife. That was probably why right now he was suffering a horrible burn on his cheek after some sort of remark he had made. He didn't even remember what it had been, but it must've angered her enough to slap him, not only with her hand, but her hand engulfed with her spiritual energy.

And so it was that he was now stuck side by side with her, strolling through the castle, 'admiring' the various paintings and tapestries that hung on the wall. But after a year of marriage to this woman, he knew by now she wanted to show off her husband to the less than fortunate people in Onigumo clan. But after that powerful slap, he wasn't willing to bring up the topic again.

"Oh! Look at that painting! Isn't it beautiful?" an excited Kikyou asked, pointing to a painting of a rather plain daisy.

Inuyasha wasn't sure if it was because he didn't have an eye for art, or because it was indeed, ugly. But he only smiled and echoed her thoughts on how the painting was beautiful. Out of nowhere, she launched into a topic of how if she were a flower, she'd love to be a daisy. So it wasn't really a surprise that when Inuyasha saw Naraku and Abi walking towards them, he was relieved to draw their attention.

"Lord Naraku! Lady Abi! Nice ta see you guys," Inuyasha greeted, a little more animated than usual.

"Ah, Lord Inuyasha and Lady Kikyou. How pleasant it is to see you two. How is the feeling of being in holy matrimony? Why, Abi dear, remember _our _wedding?!" asked Naraku, looking at Abi rather expectantly.

"No."

"…"

"Very well then! We should get going now. We have some business to attend to. Nice meeting you."

As Naraku walked past Inuyasha, he leaned in and whispered "Don't be surprised when she turns into an ungrateful bitch."

_Been there, done that_, Inuyasha thought with a bored expression on his face. He was quickly brought back down to reality when Kikyou latched onto his arm and stared longingly after Naraku and Abi's retreating forms. "They look so happy together. I'm glad we turned out that way too, right Inuyasha?"

"Right…"

--

"Ye have to hold the bow _this _way! How could ye ever hope to hit the target when ye not even in the right stance?!" Kaede wheezed, standing beside Kagome who was about ready to break the bow in half.

"I just don't understand the difference," Kagome began, repositioning her fingers, "between my finger being up here, and then with it being two millimeters below that!"

"It makes a whole lot of difference when ye actually aiming to hit something!" She retorted.

"Unless what you're hitting happens to walk very slowly," Kagome grounded out, being careful not to make eye contact with the old woman.

After five more minutes of being lectured on how to hold the bow and position the arrow, Kagome finally let go of the bowstring and watched with triumph as her arrow was engulfed in a light blue hue that was heading straight towards the bulls eye marked on the circular board. A loud wham was sounded when the tip of the arrow lodged itself inside the wood.

"Did you see that?!" Kagome exclaimed, looking at her arrow with a sense of pride.

Kaede however, was less than pleased as she inspected the arrow. Walking over to it, she leaned over closely to the tip of it, a finger tapping her chin. A few moments later, she looked up at Kagome and uttered a single word.

"Horrible."

Kagome's jaw dropped with frustration. "How could that be?! I hit the red mark like I was supposed to!"

"Ye were one inch off, fool! That makes a whole lot of difference when ye have a moving target and ye want to pierce the heart!"

Kagome thanked God for the patience she had kept wit the old woman. For had she lost it, Kaede would find an arrow lodged in her heart. And it wouldn't be an inch off. Just as she was about to notch another arrow to shoot at the target, she heard footsteps walking over to her.

Looking behind her, she saw Kikyou walking towards her with a rather disinterested look on her face.

"I saw you…practicing, if you could even call it that, and I had to come down immediately. Some people were blessed with the skill of archery," she stated, taking a bow and arrow, and with practiced grace, let it fly straight into the red circle, "and others were not."

All she received was a glare from Kagome who couldn't stand being showed up in front of. However it was completely the opposite for Kaede who was clapping her hands like mad. "I expected nothing less of ye, Lady Kikyou! Nothing less!" She praised.

"Give me that!" Kagome snapped, grabbing the bow from Kikyou's grasp and sliding into the stance. In one quick flurry, she had notched an arrow and set off straight towards the bulls eye, the light blue hue of her power stronger than ever. Kagome shot her fist up in the air when the whole bulls eye board combusted from her miko energy.

"How untrained are you? You blew up the whole board."

--

"AND THEN, she's all like, "you blew up the board" and crap like that!" Kagome fumed, making sure Sango, Miroku, and Inuyasha heard it. "Well, no duh! That's what I was _trying _to do!"

"Well, Lady Kagome…" Miroku, another wonderful man a part of the staff began hesitantly, "She is a powerful, trained miko. It's only natural she should feel superior."

"Not true." Sango stated. "He's only saying it because he earlier made some sort of comment on how nice her ass looked. Typical."

Miroku looked over to Inuyasha, half expecting the hanyou to blow up in his face about making comments like that about his wife. However Inuyasha merely shrugged and leaned back in his seat. It was true after all, so why disagree?

Seeing as no one would volunteer some lovable fake compliments, Sango decided she'd have to step up to the plate. "You're a great archer and an even better miko. You could show up that Kikyou any time you wanted!" Miroku wheezed a little, not very understanding of the whole concept to keep your mouth shut.

Kagome let out a sigh, knowing it was impossible to compare herself to Kikyou. Anybody who had heard of Kikyou would know that she was a renowned miko, and those of the darkness feared her, while those of the light admired her. Besides, Kikyou seemed to enjoy being a miko. Kagome on the other hand just did it because she felt like she had to. That, and Kaede wouldn't let her off the hook so easily. She kept ranting and raving on and on about how Kagome should put her miko powers to use instead of wasting them away.

All of a sudden, the door to Kagome's room burst open and Rin quickly slid her body through before latching the door shut. She turned her back to the door and was met with four pairs of eyes all looking at her expectantly. Now that Kagome thought about it, it was pretty odd to have a princess and a prince both in her room…She was a maid after all, so why the hell was everybody deciding to use her room as the new hot spot?

"Lady Rin…?" Sango questioned, upon seeing the girl heave a huge sigh of relief.

"Sorry about that…I swear Abi is trying to _kill _me! She keeps talking about engagement and how I better prepare myself for it…I am _not _getting married! I'm only 17! Why?!"

"If I'm not mistaken…A lot of girls get married at 17. Why are you so resistant to it?" Miroku prodded, a lecherous look in his eyes. Sango quickly elbowed him, making sure he didn't make some sort of advancements on the girl which would cause the whole castle to go in uproar.

"And a lot of them don't seem too happy! Check out Kagura if you don't believe me!"

"True," said Inuyasha with a rather lazy look on his face. "Anybody would die if they were married to that mutt."

Rin raised a brow. "You don't seem like you enjoy your marriage with Kikyou or what's her face."

Inuyasha only snorted before turning to look at the other direction, clearly avoiding the idea of giving her a response any time soon. She didn't even know the first thing about marriage! It wasn't like he hated Kikyou…No. She was beautiful, smart, and nice when she really wanted to be, but really, he had his eye on someone else…Someone less…Demanding. He discreetly looked at Kagome though his efforts were wasted since she wasn't even looking in his general direction.

"Anyways, I needed some place to hide before Abi found me. I'd rather die than have to listen to her lecture me about the "Upbringings of a Woman". If anything, the idea of becoming an old hag living in a swamp sounds like paradise!"

"Don't say that, Lady Rin!" Kagome chided. "Before you know it, it might actually happen!"

Sango nodded in agreement. "Plus, I heard you were supposed to be getting engaged to Lord Sesshoumaru! Of all people, just imagine! He's a looker Lady Rin. And not only that, he's powerful and widely known. What's so wrong about that?"

"Everything!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Everything is wrong with that! Do you realize how far a stick must be shoved up his pompous ass for him to act so high and mighty?! I'm telling you, he's not what he's cracked up to be."

Inuyasha all of a sudden grinned, a small fang poking out. "Hey Rin…Guess what I heard?" Rin looked at him warily, not really liking the grin on his face. "I heard he's been havin' the hots for you lately…" He brought his attention to his claws once her jaw dropped in pure horror and or shock.

Now, most girls would faint and die from happiness.

However, Rin wasn't exactly 'most girls'. In fact, she could be quite the opposite, though we won't divulge into that…

"EW! I think I'm gonna hurl!" She wailed, grasping the door handle. She opened it cautiously, making sure Abi nor her servants were milling around, waiting to spring on her. When the coast was clear, she made a mad dash for what seemed like the bathrooms.

Inuyasha leaned back in his seat, hands behind his head and his eyes closed.

"Too bad what I told her was a lie."

--

It was about the first appearance Sesshoumaru had made since the dinner last night, and he was pretty wary about leaving his quarters, but the dog demon inside of him was raging to let him go out. Being stuck in a room for almost a whole day wasn't really the way to spend spare time. Not even Sesshoumaru could handle that. So, in order to get out, he had made a perfectly calculated plan. One that required agility, full concentration, and invisibility. For what, you may ask? Escaping the humans.

However, as he was going at his god-like speed down the hallways, towards the gardens, he didn't expect to collide into someone who had god-like speed of her own. Rin, who was desperately trying to flee Abi who had caught her with what she claimed was her "bird's eye view" (Bad pun.) had thwarted her plans once more and was running for her life. Now, when you put two unstable people together, you get a very, very bad result.

Especially when one of them is a ticked off dog demon who's about to go whoop ass on you.

The worst part was when Rin landed on top of Sesshoumaru, took one look at him, squealed in disgust, and proceeded to get up and take great care to make sure her foot landed on his face, and ran off. If Sesshoumaru wasn't angry before, he was a freaking tornado now. Half of him wanted to turn right back and run after her, make her pay for the horrible footprint she had left on his face, and the other half was desperate to get out. And since male pride overrides male intelligence for some, Sesshoumaru decided getting back at that human was the best way to unleash his terror that was a result of stress and claustrophobia.

Luckily Rin didn't choose to look behind her. For if she did, a furry white dog that happened to be the size of Clifford, give or take a few feet, was bounding after her. Of course the vibrations of his pounding paws were enough to send her sprawling forwards.

"OH MY GOD!" Rin screamed when she saw a huge dog bounding towards her, poison dropping on the floor. Naraku was going to be pissed.

And just as Sesshoumaru was about to jump and stand over her, he heeled. This was the princess of the domain…If any harm was put to her, there'd be a heavy price to pay. Although he didn't know why anyone would consider her some sort of treasure.

After a few moments of calming down, Sesshoumaru quickly reverted to his humanoid form, a displeased look clearly etched on his face. As he stood there, his golden eyes narrowed to the point where he almost couldn't see. Why was this Rin girl not crying or cowering in a corner? Was his presence not alarming enough? He bared his fangs at her and instead he merely got a huff from her.

When Rin decided to saunter over to him in a way that seemed she had never even panicked earlier, he tensed. Something was off. She appeared to be walking past him when all of a sudden she whirled around and let her hand make contact with his cheek.

"Are you crazy?!" She yelped, brown eyes flashing in anger. "This isn't some sort of zoo, you freak!"

She did _not _just slap him. This little, human girl did not do that…She just did _not_! And what some would consider the most immature thing for a highly regarded demon to do, Sesshoumaru simply lost it. With one quick flick of the wrist, he clutched onto the girl's side ponytail that was bobbing precariously on the side of her head.

It was then that the cause and effect theory took place. Because her hair was being pulled, Rin decided to pinch and hold onto the cheek she had momentarily slapped. Therefore, Sesshoumaru decided to put a little Dokkasu in her kimono sleeve. Just as Rin was about knee him in the valley below, Abi appeared, a rather stunned look on her normally apathetic face.

"What are you doing!" She shrieked, gasping in horror at the scene before her. Not only was the hallway completely in shambles, but here her (adoptive) daughter was, looking like she was about ready to kill the Lord of the West's son (her (adoptive) daughter's soon-to-be-fiancé).

"Get your hands off of each other before somebody else sees you! What would I tell them should someone happen to walk by? And Rin! I didn't realize that my lecture had actually provoked you to find your fiancé!"

"So it's _true_?!" Rin wailed, about ready to drown in her own tears of self-pity.

Now Sesshoumaru on the other hand was void of any emotion. Not even the good ol' blood-red leaked into his eyes. He just was utterly shocked.

The rest of his life…Was supposed to be spent in unity with _her_?!

"Well of course it's true!" Abi exclaimed. "It was supposed to be a surprise though everyone knew about it anyways…But we planned on announcing it at the welcoming ball that is usually held at the beginning of the first six months! You should know that by now. Don't you remember that it happened like that with Kagura?"

"But…Those two ended up destroying the place!"

Abi looked around the hallway and turned to Rin's eyes, expectantly. "I think you two have gotten past that stage. Anyways! I have other things to attend to. Don't forget! The ball is tomorrow night!"

Rin watched her leave, her jaw hanging opening. This woman really was trying to kill her. She wondered if she spent half her time in her room plotting ways to make her life miserable. It wouldn't be too far off the truth.

--

"So? Which kimono do you think I should wear for tomorrow night? The royal blue one, or the dark purple with lavender?" Kikyou held up to kimonos on either side of her while standing in front of Inuyasha who lay on the bed, not even looking at her.

"Inuyasha!"

He snapped his head at her before returning to the task at hand, which was picking at his claws. Without even looking, he waved his hand in the direction of the blue kimono. "The blue one…" He mumbled, not really caring. It's not like she wouldn't look good in either kimono.

"The purple it is."

He rolled his eyes before getting off the bed. All this endless amount of spare time was allowing him to drift his thoughts over to Kagome. He didn't know if she was oblivious, or she was too loyal to get herself involved with a married man. A prince no less. They had been friends for ages, since the first time the Taishou clan had stepped foot in here. Wasn't it only natural that he should have some feelings for her?

"Where are you going Inuyasha?" Kikyou asked, looking up at the hanyou who was about to leave the room.

"I'm just gonna go find somethin' to eat or…somethin'."

Kikyou rolled her eyes but smiled a little. His appetite was a voracious one.

As Inuyasha milled around the hallways, not really looking at anything except the path in front of him, he bumped into Miroku who had a nice hand print on his face, most likely from his latest duel with Sango.

"Ah, Inuyasha! Looking for Kagome I assume?" He wiggled his eyebrows in the most suggestive and nastiest way Inuyasha could bear.

"No! What makes you think that?"

"Oh, I don't know. The fact that you're blushing, and maybe, _just maybe_, the fact that you don't seem to spend as much time with Lady Kikyou. It seems a little odd if you ask me…I just hope she doesn't find out…" He trailed off, grinning.

"You wouldn't tell her!" Inuyasha snarled, about ready to grab the throat of what was considered his best friend. "If you do, don't expect to live for another sunrise!"

"My my…" Miroku started, gingerly sidestepping Inuyasha who was glaring daggers at him. "As if I would leak out something like _that_. What do you take me for?"

Inuyasha decided to keep his mouth shut on that one.

"Well speak of the devil…" Miroku trailed off, seeing Kagome nearing them. "Good luck on this one!" With that said, he walked off in a completely different direction, leaving a flustered Inuyasha. He couldn't let Kagome see him like this!

"Inuyasha! What are you doing out here?" Kagome asked, a bright smile on her face. Inuyasha looked around, letting out a string of unintelligible words while his white ears swiveled around nervously.

"Just…You know. Admiring the, uh, tapestry," he gestured, pointing a finger to the tapestry that hung on the wall right behind him. Kagome's smile faltered a little, not really understanding why. He wasn't the type to appreciate decorative art, if any art for that matter.

"I see…Where's Kikyou?" She asked, though there was no apparent interest in her expression. It was merely for the sake of small talk.

"She's just deciding what to wear for tomorrow's ball. I won't be expecting her out until dinner. She likes to take her time with these sorts of things. Where were you?"

"You didn't hear about that huge mess that Lady Rin and that brother of yours left? The hallway was practically gone!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "And guess who had to clean it up too!"

Inuyasha's look brightened considerably. "So he went loose, eh? Lost control of his anger and turned into the damn beast he is." He shook his head, chuckling to himself as he began to walk away. Kagome turned after him, her blue eyes filled with curiosity. As he turned the corner, she merely shrugged.

Something was up with him lately, and she promised herself she'd find out if it was the last thing she did.


End file.
